NPA CAPTIVE. Retired Army Colonel Eduardo Montealto Jr., now the Regional Director of the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) in Central Visayas, recalls his life as a captive of the Pulang Bagani command of the New People’s Army in Davao City in 1999. Montealto narrated that many of the warriors under the command of Leoncio Pitao alias Kumander Parago were schoolchildren from Surigao del Sur. (PNA file photo)
CEBU CITY – It was an awkward situation for an Army captain to be guarded by minors armed with long rifles during his two-month captivity by the New People’s Army (NPA) in Davao City some 20 years ago, but he befriended them, pinning hope on his young guardians for his survival.
Then-Captain Eduardo Montealto Jr., who retired with the rank of Colonel before joining the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) to spearhead the PUV modernization program in Central Visayas, recalled on Wednesday how he and his commanding officer were kidnapped by NPA rebels in February of 1999.
Montealto and his superior, then-Brig. Gen. Victor Obillo, commander of the 55th Engineer Brigade in Davao City, were conducting an ocular inspection for a road project in the village of Kalatong in Davao City when the NPA rebels flagged down their pick-up truck.
Montealto was the Brigade’s logistics officer when the kidnapping occurred.
Their driver who was a Corporal and a civilian traveling with them were released. But Obillo and Montealto were brought to the NPA hideout and word of their capture spread like wildfire.
“We were inspecting aggregates to be used for the road projects. We collect samples of the aggregates for lab test in UP (University of the Philippines) in Mindanao. While we were driving down the hills, the NPA rebels caught us,” Montealto told the Philippine News Agency (PNA) in Cebuano in an interview.
When they were brought to Kumander Parago (Leoncio Pitao), leader of the Pulang Bagani (red fighters) command in Southern Mindanao, they were met with several children carrying rifles, he said.
Montealto also recalled that he was guarded by children during his two months of captivity.
“Ang nag-guwardiya nako giti-onan ko mga bata gyud. Ako gipangutana pila imo edad, naay 13. Mao ako sila gi-estorya asa sila gikan, ug nahibaw-an nako taga Surigao sila (Those who were assigned to guard me were children. I asked one how old he was and I found out there was a 13-year-old. And so I was able to talk to them and I learned that they were from Surigao),” he narrated.
Montealto said he noticed that the children at the Pulang Bagani command underwent indoctrination, with rebel leaders brainwashing them by telling stories about government oppression.
“The children fighters were also taught how to conduct sparrow operations and tactical movement. And if they had operations, they would deploy first the children,” he said.
He also noticed how the children had adapted to life as rebel warriors in the mountain.
He said he saw one child fighter cleaning the firearms one after another and consistently putting a “pasulong bullet” (fighter’s lingo on chamber-load) in the barrel when cleaning, so that they were always ready to fire in times of eventuality.
The children, Montealto said, confided to him that they went to a school in Surigao del Sur (near Tandag) where they sang “Himno Internasyonal” every morning, instead of the Lupang Hinirang. Half of the class of 40 students in that Surigao del Sur school went up to the mountain of Davao City to join other young fighters under Kumander Parago.
Many of the child warriors' parents went to the mountain to see them, he recalled. But none of them was allowed to climb to the Pulang Bagani station.
Montealto learned later on that the parents were provided with provisions called “supamil” which means “suporta sa pamilya” (support to the family).
He also recalled counting around 140 fighters, including regular rebels who also became his “friends” while in captivity. He remembered how one Pulang Bagani combatant with the nickname “Vic” secured him during long walks in the hinterlands.
“Mahadlok ko magtan-aw kay iyang armalite naka-on ang safety pin, ako giingnan “sir naka-kuan ang safety sa armalite mo, makalabit mo pa’g ma-slide tayo. Ilagay sa safety. (I was scared seeing his Armalite with safety pin open. I would ask him 'sir, the safety pin of your armalite is open, you might pull the trigger if we slide off the ground. Put it on safety'),” he recalled.
The abducted Army captain also recalled seeing 14 female students of a big university in Davao who went to the mountain as OJT (on-the-job training) under the rebel command of Parago.
“Hostage pa ko nila, ako sila gi-estoryahan kanus-a sila naabot. Motubag sila nako mag-sir. Ako pud sila giingnan ayaw lang mo pag-sir kay pantay-pantay ra ta dire (I was their hostage then when I had the chance to talk to them when they arrived. They call me 'sir' when they answer my question. I had to tell them not to address me sir as we were treated as equals there),” Montealto said.
While in captivity, Montealto said he had the chance to study the rebels' tactical doctrine some of which were incomprehensible and bore “deep Visayan” terms and explanations.
He also recalled that rebel leaders Jose Maria Sison and Luis Jalandoni would call him from the Netherlands to check on their situation while in captivity.
Former Armed Forces of the Philippines chief of staff, General Joselin Nazareno then flew to Davao to coordinate military efforts to free Obillo and Montealto.
News records showed that Defense Secretary Orlando Mercado justified Obillo and Montealto’s presence in the area, saying they were "non-combatants" and that being Army engineers, they were there to build roads and bridges for poor residents in Mindanao.
A series of negotiations ensued.
Then presidential adviser for Mindanao Jesus Dureza and Senator Loren Legarda, along with two bishops (one of them was Bishop Jesus Varela), negotiated for their release.
But before the release happened, he suffered the ordeal of being tried before the Kangaroo court, with “baseless” accusations.
“Nasipyat sila. Gi-accuse ko nga one of Marcos’ secret marhals kuno ko and nag-land grab ko. In 1972, elementary pa man ko, unsaon man nako pagka-secret marshal? Sipyat sila ato (They mistook me. They accused me as one of Marcos’ secret marshals and I went on land-grabbing. In 1972, I was just an elementary pupil, how could I be a secret marshal? They made a mistake),” he narrated.
He said that he was able to list down their accusations that they broadcast on radio, but he said they did not read his answers.
Due to mounting pressure from the public for the release of Obillo and Montealto, amid then President Joseph Estrada's order to suspend peace talks, the Pulang Bagani children warriors bade farewell to the two Army engineers.
After 58 days of captivity, Montealto and Obillo were freed in the mountain village of Suawan in Davao’s Marilog District.
They were brought down a steep hill and allowed to meet their wives inside a van before joining a ceremony at which Parago himself formally announced Montealto and Obillo’s release to the representatives of the Philippine Red Cross.
After his release, Montealto was transferred to another Army unit that led a successful operation in the NPA lair headed by Parago, where fighters numbering around 60 – including the child warriors – surrendered to the government forces.
His captor, Pitao or Kumander Parago, was killed along with a suspected female rebel in an encounter with 6th Scout Ranger Company of the Philippine Army in Pañalum village, Paquibato District in Davao City in June 2015.
Pitao’s Pulang Bagani command was considered as the main unit of the NPA in Davao region. At the time of his death, he had several warrants of arrest for various crimes including murder, multiple frustrated murder and robbery.
Montealto said he received an offer to make his story as NPA captive the subject of a movie to be starred by Philip Salvador but due to some reasons, it never materialized. (PNA)
